The present invention relates generally to the field of containers and packaging methods. More specifically, it relates to a folded cardboard or paperboard carton for shipping, storing, and displaying articles of merchandise, and to methods of making the carton and of packaging the articles in it.
A wide variety of cardboard or corrugated paperboard cartons have been devised for shipping and storing articles of merchandise, wherein the same carton that is used for shipping and storing the merchandise is converted to a container for a "point of purchase" display of the merchandise at the location where the merchandise is offered for sale. One of the more popular types of such convertible cartons is of the type shown in FIG. 1, wherein a prior art shipping/display carton 10 is shown in its display configuration. In this configuration, the carton 10 comprises a flat bottom 11, a vertical front wall 12, a vertical rear wall 13, and a pair of opposed vertical side walls 14. The carton 10 includes a "pop-up" display panel 15 that is connected to the rear wall 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the display panel 15 is disposed in a vertical, open position, thereby allowing articles of merchandise 16 to be seen and selected for purchase. In this open configuration, the display panel 15 extends upwardly from the rear wall 13 to provide a location for the display of textual and graphical information (not shown) in order to advertise the merchandise (i.e. "point of purchase" advertising).
The display panel 15 comprises an outer section 15a and an inner section 15b, with a"pop-up" section 17 partially cut out from the outer section 15a and connected along one side to the inner section 15b. The display panel 15 may be folded into a closed position (not shown), in which the outer section 15a and the inner section 15b extend horizontally so as to form a lid or cover over the articles 16. When the display panel 15 is opened, it is first lifted, and then the inner section 15b is folded down over the inside surface of the outer section 15a, causing the "pop-up" section 17 to be displaced outwardly and upwardly from the outer section 15a and rotated 180 degrees to form a raised central part of the display panel 15, and thereby leaving an open cut-out 18 in the outer section 15a that is covered by the folded-over inner section 15b.
The prior art carton 10 is manufactured by a process that is similar to the process described below in connection with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, with several notable differences that provide a point of novelty of the present invention.
One disadvantage of the prior art carton 10 is that the pop-up display panel 15 generally limits the number of articles 16 that the carton 10 can hold. Thus, more cartons 10 must be used for a given number of articles 16, thereby raising packaging costs.
Another disadvantage derives from the fact that the cartons 10 are typically shipped with the display panels 15 in their closed positions. Thus, when they arrive at their destination and it is desired to display the merchandise, it is necessary to perform the above-described plurality of steps to open the display panels 15 to their vertical positions, and to expose the "pop-up" section 17.
It would thus provide a significant advantage over the prior art to modify the carton 10 so as to increase the number of articles of merchandise it can hold. It would be a further advantage to simplify the procedure for converting the carton from a closed shipping configuration to an open display configuration, including a central "pop-up" section, whereby the display panel and its "pop-up" section are already substantially deployed in the display configuration during shipping.